Patent · US Expired

Method for removing from an image the background surrounding a selected object

US6134346A · kind A · utility

113Cited by
10References
19Claims
0Family size

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJan 16, 1998
Grant dateOct 17, 2000
Priority date
Expiry dateJan 16, 2018

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N9/75
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A computer implemented method to extract a selected subject from its background, by removing the background, including that portion of the background visible through semi transparent areas of the subject, and generating a matte signal containing a record of background levels outside of and within semitransparent subject areas. The observed RGB signal levels of a pixel in the semitransparent transition between a subject and its background, are a mixture of color contributed by the subject, and by the background. The estimated subject color, and the estimated background color, and the observed color of a transition pixel (pixRGB), may be shown as three points in a three dimensional color space.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.